


Not Just Another Day

by Squarepeg72



Series: 31 Pegs on the Wall [22]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Birthday, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Family, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-10
Updated: 2020-11-10
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:47:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27485257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Squarepeg72/pseuds/Squarepeg72
Summary: Birthdays are never easy when they are no longer here to celebrate
Relationships: Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley
Series: 31 Pegs on the Wall [22]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1950172
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	Not Just Another Day

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Day 25 - Hurt/Comfort of the 31 Days of Writing Challenge
> 
> [](https://www.flickr.com/photos/148170750@N07/50585949857/in/dateposted-public/)  
> 
> 
> Today (11/9/2020) would have been my father’s 72nd birthday. My last conversation with him was almost 9.5 years ago. He pasted a few hours after I got to tell him I loved him for the last time … Life is short. Tell those around you that you love them every chance you get. Because, you never know when it may be the last chance you get to tell them ..

“Harry, come to bed.” Ginny leaned against the door frame as she watched her husband trace an image in the picture frame he was holding. “It is after midnight, and we both have to be in the office early.”

“Can’t sleep.” Harry looked up from the picture he was holding. “He would have been 60 today. There are so many things we have missed.”

“Honey, who would have been 60?” GIinny walked across the room to kneel in front of Harry. “Which picture is that?”

Harry held the picture out to Ginny and picked up his glass of firewhisky from the table beside his chair. “They never had a chance to do the things we have. Never had the chance to do anything.”

“Honey, this is your mum and dad.” Ginny took the picture from Harry and ran a finger over his parents’ faces. “When was this one taken? What started all of this?”

“If it is after midnight, today is his birthday.” Harry shrugged and took a sip of his firewhisky. “This was taken not long before they died. If you look close enough, you can see me in the picture.”

“Where?” Ginny set the picture on the table beside Harry’s chair and sat in his lap. “They are so young and so happy. It’s hard to believe they were in the middle of a war.”

“Mum’s pregnant in the picture.” Harry wrapped his arms around Ginny and settled his chin into the crook of her neck. “I was curious and opened the frame. Sirius took this on his birthday. He had just turned twenty.”

“Why is it harder this year?” Ginny asked as she turned her head and kissed his cheek. “I know you have trouble with Halloween, but you have never seemed to have this much trouble in March. What’s different?”

“Our James,” Harry shrugged and stared into the fireplace. “His news today. News we never got to share with my parents. Just another day when I would have liked to have him here.”

“They are here.” Ginny turned in Harry’s lap so she could hold his face in her hands. “Just because we can’t see them doesn’t mean they aren’t here.”

“It still doesn’t make me stop missing them.” Harry felt the tears gather in his eyes. “I just…”

“Need to put down the firewhisky and come to bed.” Ginny got up from Harry’s lap and held out her hand. “We’ll go to Godric’s Hollow after work, and you can wish your dad a happy birthday. I am not apparating in the middle of the night.”

Harry got up from the chair and let Ginny lead him out of the sitting room. “It’s not fair, Gin. I’ve gotten to live twice as long as he did. There are so many things he never got to see, to do…”

“You got to do them because of his sacrifice.” Ginny rose up on her tiptoes to kiss Harry’s cheek. “No more talk of what he missed. Today is a day to celebrate the life he lived, the life they lived, not the one we wish they had had.”

Harry let Ginny lead him down the dark hall. With a sigh, Harry tapped the portrait of his parents that hung just outside their bedroom. “Happy birthday, Dad. Love you. Miss you.”

James Potter’s ghost watched his son and daughter -in-law walk down the hall to their bedroom. “I love you too, Harry. Never doubt that I am with you and it was worth it. Every single minute was worth it.”


End file.
